Damn it, he’d forgotten the flowers! Cursing himself, Mulder started to look for a florist along the side of the main drag he was on. The light ahead turned red and he stopped to wait. A flash of movement caught his eye. There was a young man standing on the divider between the road lanes next to a cooler. He was holding several plastic-wrapped single roses in his fist and talking to whoever was in the first car ahead.

Mulder rolled his window down and stuck his head out. "Hey, kid!"

The young man’s face brightened at the thought of a sale and he dashed back to Mulder’s sedan. "Yes, sir! Wanna buy a rose?" he asked eagerly.

"How much?" Mulder asked, glancing to see if the light had changed yet.

"Two bucks."

The light ahead turned green as Mulder grabbed the biggest bill he had in his wallet. "I’ll take them all. Here, this should cover it," he said, thrusting a fifty at the astonished young man.

Minutes later, Mulder was banging on the door of her hotel room.

"Mulder, I’m coming! Hold your ho…" Scully jerked open the door and froze. "What…." she stumbled slightly over the word.

He gave her a quick, boyish grin - the one that always melted her knees and held the armload of roses out to her. There was a multitude of colors and there was no greenery or baby’s breath. And each was wrapped in plastic with the little water vials at the ends to keep them fresh. But they were the most beautiful things she’d ever seen.

"I forgot to get them before," he mumbled in a rush.

She smiled fully then, a quick darting display that was hidden again almost as fast as it had come. It was just something he would do. That endearing forgetfulness that struck him in the face of so many other catastrophic things he could remember to the finest detail.

"Thank you," she murmured, glancing up through the veil of her lashes and then quickly reaching out to take them.

Mulder smiled again and moved to close the door as she turned away, her arms overflowing with roses.

"I didn’t have time to choose a color. I just bought them all. I thought maybe you could… Well, they can be divided…" he stuttered to a halt as she came back, flashing that tiny little grin at him.

"I love them, Mulder. Thank you."

She rose on tiptoe and just barely grazed his cheek with her lips, startling him with the unexpected display. Mulder went in and stood for a moment, his hands deep in his pockets as he waited for her to tend to the flowers in the bathroom. A picture on the bookcase caught his eye and he went over to it. It was a fairly recent one of them, back before their unplanned trip to the Arctic. He smiled at the rare smiles on both their faces.

He turned too suddenly and a sharp pain creased his side. The gash was raw and sore and the stitches pulled. He lowered himself gingerly to the sofa, propping his forearms on his thighs. This train wreck had opened up some doors between them. Mulder could go back in his mind to every time he’d come close to losing her, beginning with Duane Barry abducting her. He hadn’t realized then exactly how much she meant to him. Now he realized it more and more all the time.

During the long hours following the wreck, he’d helped person after person, glancing over the bodies of the dead to help those who were injured and in need of care. When he thought he couldn’t go one another step, he asked himself what she would do. And the answer was always the same. She would gather in the tatters of her strength and find a way to keep going. She was just like that. Her strength of will was one of the things he loved most about her. She constantly amazed him with all she was and all she did. When he was at the very end of his rope, she pushed him to hold on tighter. When he wanted to give up after their meeting with the Senate committee about the bees and the cornfields, she promised him they would keep going together. That they couldn’t give up or it would let their enemies win. That reminded him of another time and place that was far off in years but not in his memories.

"That’s a deep look on your face."

She came back into the room, startling him. He flashed her a halfway grin and looked back at his hands and she sat down across from him.

"I was just thinking," he answered.

"About what?"

"About all that’s happened in the past two days. The wreck seems like a million years away now."

Along with Harm and Mac and the others, they’d been ordered to take at least two days off – never mind the fact that they weren’t even in the same business as the esteemed JAG. But they’d just nodded and agreed along with the others because they did need the time to regroup.

Scully didn’t answer just then, she just looked at him thoughtfully. Mulder could see the deep exhaustion in her face. So often, it was she who ended up in danger because of the vendettas against him. He could only wonder at what went through her mind at the site of the train wreck. In the horrifying time after waking up amid the wreckage, he had known beyond any shadow of a doubt that she would be there. No matter how long it took or what she had to do. And when she finally did find him, he just knew she was there. It was something that existed so strongly between them now that he knew he sometimes took it for granted.

At the very beginning of their partnership, Scully hadn’t known what to expect of this recalcitrant man. She’d been assigned to him to pick apart his work. To prove that the X-Files was bogus. She learned quickly that the real agenda was for her to prove Mulder was using his job to suit his own motives. She was to provide information the men in the shadows could use against him. Scully learned very quickly that the only person she could trust was Mulder. And vice versa. He trusted no other person on earth except for her. Everyone else in the wide existence that made up his life lied to him one way or another.

"This investigation seems so normal in some ways," Mulder mused. "It’s a typical kidnapping with someone who has a greater agenda. I never expected when we flew out here that all the rest would happen."

Scully studied their clasped hands. "I had a lot of time to think while I was looking for you. About the way things have been between us lately. We’ve been through so much since we became partners. More than I ever dreamed I’d ever be exposed to when I joined the Bureau."

"Are you sorry you didn’t stick with medicine?" he joked softly.

She shook her head. "Not one bit. I still feel like I’m doing more good here. I believe in all we do, Mulder. Even though there are times I disagree with you – the times I can’t reconcile what I see with my sciences," she answered, her words reminding him of another time.

It was right after their impromptu trip to the giant cornfields and the temperature controlled building where the bees were being nested.

"You can’t quit now, Scully."

"We are close to something here, we’re on the verge…"

"You’re on the verge, Mulder. Please, don’t do this to me."

"I have. I did. It’s done."

"I need you on this."

He drifted back to the present and traced one finger of his other hand over the back of hers. "I told you not so long ago that you’re strict rationalization and science had saved me a thousand times over. I still feel the same way. The whole time I was trying to find my way out of the wreckage, I wanted to give up. To just sit down and give up. It reminded me of so many things we’ve seen before. Innocent people hurt because of someone else’s screwed up motives," he stopped talking for a moment and looked at their hands again. Then he looked back to her, his expression bottomless.

"Then I asked myself what you would do. And what you would say about me wanting to give up. You’ve always helped me to go on when I thought I couldn’t," he stated gently.

Scully reached up and touched the ugly bruise that darkened one of his high cheekbones. "It’s you who keeps me going. There have been many times I’ve wanted to quit. To get away from this because it hurts too much. Especially when you were hurt. But this time, this wasn’t even a threat from one of our own nightmares. I never dreamed I would come out here and risk losing you to a train wreck," she told him softly.

"Have your feelings changed since the cornfield and our trip to the arctic? Do you still feel the same way about thinking you should leave?" he asked intently, his deep voice rasping lightly over her nerves.

Scully shook her head. "No, Mulder, I don’t. I’ve had a lot of time to think about it. I don’t know if I can explain how I feel now, but it’s nothing like it was before."

"I don’t want to rehash the past, Scully, but it hurt like hell when you told me you were quitting. That you wouldn’t accept the transfer." There was no recrimination in his voice, only sadness.

"It hurt me, too, but I was so confused, Mulder. For the first time in our lives, I didn’t know how to talk to you and it scared me. But it wouldn’t have mattered if I’d quit. Quitting would have meant they won - that they bested us. It’s taken me awhile but I’ve realized something else. It’s you I can’t leave – much more than our fight against the consortium. For awhile I wondered if we wouldn’t be better off away from each other. That maybe we’d become too dependant and I was terrified of ruining our beautiful friendship," she admitted gently.

"I told you once that nothing would ever change us being best friends."

"I remember. It didn’t keep me from being afraid. People change, Mulder. We have," she pointed out.

"True, but we’ve grown – separately and together but mostly together. I felt like a failure the day you came to see me. I went over and over it in my head and still came up feeling like I’d let you down. I felt helpless to change what was happening between us."

Despite his casual air, Scully felt his pain - saw it in his eyes, heard it in his low voice. She tightened her grip on his hand and scooted closer to him. Her fingers brushed against the raspy stubble on his cheek. "I was trying to protect myself but what I see now is that I’m stronger with you. I can’t turn my back on all the years we’ve been together. We’ve been through more than most people ever see in a whole lifetime. I can’t undo that – nor do I want to. You’re as much a part of me as my own heart, Mulder. I can no more cut you out than I could cut off my arm.

From the time we first met, you’ve always been there for me to count on. You’ve never judged me or made fun of me but you have always, always stood by me - no matter what. Even when you knew why I was assigned to you. You just grabbed the ball and kept going. I admired that about you more than anything. You were so determined that nothing would stand in your way – not even a green little agent fresh from the Academy," she paused and a slight smile lifted the corner of her mouth. "When I can’t find my way, I can always find you. I don’t ever want to be away from you again, no matter what the future brings for us. So if you decide to keep fighting, then I guess I’ll be fighting, too."

Mulder thought his heart would burst from his chest at her softly uttered words. Big hands caught her under the arms and he lifted her across his lap, wrapping her in his embrace. Scully sighed, feeling a weight slip from her shoulders. This was where her world always felt right.

"You’re my best friend," he murmured against her hair, squeezing her tight. "I don’t want to be away from you either."

"I keep remembering how scared I was when we got to the train, Mulder. With each body I found I kept wondering if it would be you. But as I got closer, I could feel you. I could feel you in my heart and I knew you were in there somewhere – alive. I would never, never have given up," she stated fervently.

"I remember feeling that way about you a long time ago when Duane Barry took you. With each day that passed, others gave up hope. They insisted I was foolish to believe you were still alive. But I knew, Scully, I knew in here," he touched his heart. "I would never have given up on you either. With every change and upheaval in my life and all the times I was confused and lost, the one thing that always remained steady was you. And I…"

His voice trailed off as their eyes locked. He didn’t finish his sentence but he didn’t need to. She knew what he felt. She could see it in his eyes. Tenderly, he rocked her, splaying his hands across her back, relishing the feel of her slender form. Weak hands buried themselves in her mussed hair, tilting her head back until he could see her eyes. Scully met his clear gaze and for once didn’t care if he recognized her true feelings. There was something in his stare as he studied her, something she wasn’t sure she could identify. The pad of his thumb brushed tenderly over her bottom lip, tugging slightly. Overwhelmed by sensation, her lids fluttered shut, her breath coming in short puffs. Mulder tilted her head forward slightly and pressed his lips to the corner of one eye, feeling the silky brush of her lashes.

Scully shivered slightly.

"Cold?" he murmured, his breath stirring her hair.

"No."

Scully realized it was the truth. She wasn’t cold at all but was instead losing herself to sensation. Scully lifted her head and met Mulder’s eyes. He studied her intently, his gaze steady. The delicate scent of jasmine wafting off her skin was driving him to distraction, as was the dreamy look in her eyes.

"What’s happening to us, Scully?" he asked, his husky voice calling her nerves to attention.

"Something I think started happening a long time ago," she admitted softly, taking the plunge.

Instead of denying it, Mulder smiled tenderly at her. "It has, hasn’t it?" he mused. "How did we overlook our feelings all these years, Scully?"

Scully shrugged, a tad self-conscious. "I don’t know, Mulder. I’ve tried to hide it from you," she admitted.

This took his by surprise. "Why?"

"I didn’t want to jeopardize our beautiful friendship," she floundered, at a loss for how to explain herself.

"Was it because you thought I might not feel the same?" he pressed, searching her face.

"Yes," Scully answered honestly. "There was never any indication that you might feel differently. Besides, for as long as I can remember ours has been an unconventional friendship. We’ve always been so close and touchy. I was afraid I might be mistaking things for more then they really were."

"I understand that. I wondered a lot if I was being too obvious. I kept telling myself it was because we were friends that I didn’t want you out of my sight. Well, surprise, I’ve known for years that my feelings for you weren’t exactly friendly. I was afraid you wouldn’t feel the same," he grinned.

Scully stared at him incredulously. "Oh, Mulder!" she cried softly, burying her face against his chest.

Beneath her face, his husky laugh made his chest rumble against her. "Maybe we’re both blind," he whispered. "It seems that we have a lot to talk about, Scully. I’m discovering that as connected as we are, there’s a whole lot we don’t know about each other."

"I want to find out the rest, Mulder. I want to know what’s been hiding below the surface," she stated earnestly, lifting her head to look at him.

"So do I, Scully. So do I."

As they sat there looking at each other, the air around them began to change. It wasn’t something one could pinpoint exactly, it was just - there. Mulder turned slightly and stroked one finger over the smooth curve of her cheek. Scully met his gaze head on and felt a herd of buffalo stampede through her belly. His big hands slid down the bare expanse of her arms and around her waist to her back, guiding her to him. Scully’s hands perched on his shoulders as she leaned her weight into him. An inch at a time, Mulder closed the distance between them. He wanted to draw this first moment out forever but at the same time, wanted to get on with it after waiting for most of his life to get here. Scully’s lips parted and his eyes narrowed on her lips as her tongue snaked out to moisten them. A bit of deviltry glinted in her blue eyes, teasing him. An answering glint twinkled at her. Their mouths were only a breath apart now, their eyes focused on each other. Scully’s heart was beating so hard she felt it might burst from her chest as anticipation thrummed through her. She’d wondered for so long about how Mulder’s hard, full lips would feel pressed against her own.

She could see desire in his face and felt the slow tightening of his body. The moment was affecting him as much as it was her. Mulder released a slow breath and tightened his fingers on her waist. The long wait of wondering and hoping was over. Scully started slightly at the first tender touch of his mouth. As the pressure increased, warmth flooded her and she realized kissing Mulder was everything she’d ever hoped it could be. He moved his hands up to the middle of her back and pressed her against him, feeling the swell of her breasts against his chest. Scully cupped one hand around the back of his head and moved the other to his jaw, holding him as if she were afraid he would move away. Mulder had no such intention. Angling his head a little more to the side, he deepened the kiss, touching his tongue to the seam of her lips. The floodgates were open and sensation was hurdling forth, consuming them, sweeping them away. Scully wiggled closer and parted her lips, allowing him the entrance he sought. When his tongue plunged in to investigate the dark cavern of her mouth, a low moan slipped from her throat. Mulder fed on the tiny sound and increased his pressure, drinking from her sweet mouth.

The years between them fell away as they united in that instant. All the hiding, the pretense, fell away into nothing. All that remained now was the intense feelings they shared for each other. Mulder shifted and delved his hands into Scully’s hair, turning her head as his mouth devoured hers. Time disappeared and Scully was only aware of the man holding her so tightly. Her best friend. Suddenly, Mulder tore his mouth away and rested his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. Scully’s eyes were closed, her own breath coming in rapid spurts. Her hands curled around his forearms, holding onto him even though his fingers were still tangled in her hair.

"This could get out of hand very fast," he muttered gruffly.

"We’ve waited a long time," Scully agreed.

"Too long to rush it now." Mulder lifted his head and pinned her with a hard look. "We have a lot to talk about, Scully, and I don’t want the cloud of the wreck hanging over our heads. Let’s take this one day at a time."

The End